Hojicha Black Sesame Cupcakes

An irresistable combination of hojicha Japanese buttercream and black sesame chocolate cake

gluten-free hojicha black sesame Cupcakes

yields 12 cupcakes

Ingredients

Black Sesame cupcakes

60g (⅔ cup) black sesame powder, or ¾ cup black sesame seeds

36g (3 tbsp) neutral-flavored oil

21g (1 tbsp) honey

101g (½ cup + 1 tbsp) mochiko flour

61g (½ cup) oat flour

46g (¼ cup + 1 tbsp) millet flour

3g (½ tsp) kosher salt

4g (1 tsp) baking soda

110g (⅔ cup) bittersweet chocolate (70% to 85%)

160g (1½ cups) light brown sugar

227g (1 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature

2 large eggs, room temperature

3g (1 tsp) vanilla extract 

185g (1 cup) hot hojicha tea or boiling water

Hojicha Japanese Buttercream

4 large egg whites

120g (⅔ cup) sugar

227g (1 cup) butter, room temperature

2g (¼ tsp) kosher salt

16g (2½ to 3 tbsp) hojicha powder

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease and line a 12 cup standard muffin pan with tulip cupcake liners.

If using black sesame seeds instead of black sesame powder, toast the black sesame seeds over medium heat in a small dry skillet until they start to smell fragrant and toasty, about a couple minutes, taking care not to burn. Then, place the toasted black sesame seeds in a food processor and blend until a finely ground powder forms, about 1 to 2 minutes.

Combine the black sesame powder with oil and honey in a small bowl, to create a black sesame paste. It’s fine if the mixture is on the drier side, as long as there aren’t any dry patches left. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the mochiko flour, oat flour, millet flour, salt, and baking soda, and set aside.

Melt the bittersweet chocolate, either in the microwave in 20 to 30 second increments, stirring between each interval until fully melted and smooth, or over a double broiler for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Once the chocolate is melted, set aside and let cool slightly.

In a large bowl, cream together the sugar and butter until light and fluffy, about 3 to 4 minutes with an electric mixer on medium speed. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat until smooth and creamy, about 1 minute. Next, add the black sesame paste and continue to beat until the paste is completely incorporated and the mixture is evenly speckled, light, and fluffy. Then, using a spatula, fold in the melted chocolate until just incorporated and no streaks remain.

Alternate folding in the flour mixture and the hojicha tea or hot water. Make sure that the liquid is incorporated well; the batter should be quite fluffy by the end. Finally, scoop the batter into the lined muffin tin. I usually use a large spoon, putting about 3 to 4 generous dollops into each liner and roughly dividing any leftover batter.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the cupcakes spring back when touched. The cupcakes should still be relatively moist in the center, and a cake tester should come out mostly, but not completely clean. Remove from the oven and let cool completely.

While the cupcakes are cooling, make the hojicha Japanese buttercream. In a large, heat-proof bowl, whisk together the egg whites until foamy before adding the sugar. Place the bowl over a double broiler, with the water barely simmering at low heat; whisk the egg whites and sugar constantly until it reaches 63°C, about 3 to 5 minutes. The sugar should be fully dissolved, and the mixture should feel hot to the touch. Remove the bowl from heat and using an electric mixer, whip the egg whites until glossy and stiff peaks form, about 5 to 10 minutes. Once the bowl is at room temperature, begin adding the butter a couple of tablespoons at a time, alternating between folding and beating the mixture. Scrape the sides and bottom every so often, and keep adding the butter until all of it is incorporated. There might be a minute or two where the mixture will look curdled and very unsightly, but keep beating the buttercream and it will reach a light, whipped consistency. When it does, add the salt and 2 tbsp of hojicha powder and mix until well-combined. When ready to pipe, add the rest of the hojicha powder and loosely mix so that the powder doesn’t completely disappear into the cream.⁴

When the cupcakes have cooled completely, frost as desired and dust some more hojicha powder over the cupcakes. I use a Wilton 2d tip for the roses.

Notes

1. I absolutely love Vigor and Health’s 100% Black Sesame Powder. It smells divine and is wonderful to have on hand so that I can escape processing my own black sesame powder. You can find it at many asian grocery stores.

2. I’ve tossed in the black sesame powder in without creating a paste first, and that works as well. However, the texture of the cupcake comes out a little less moist, so I prefer incorporating a paste versus just the black sesame powder.

3. I use these tulip cupcake liners and fill the cups to about three-quarters of the way full, and the amount of batter works perfectly for 12 cupcakes. If using regular liners, you will likely need a second muffin pan for the overflow. I haven’t used regular liners so not sure how many will bake up, but keep in mind they rise quite a bit while baking, but then fall back because of how moist they are.

4. Loosely mixing the powder into the buttercream will result in a slightly gritty texture against the smoothness of the buttercream and leave a stronger, lightly bitter hojicha taste behind, which I find to be absolutely divine.

5. If there were a best time to eat these cupcakes, it would be at room temperature the next day. By then, the cake will have settled into a richer, denser flavor.

Adapted from Snixy Kitchen’s Gluten-Free Chocolate Black Sesame Cake